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Gordon Brown speech in Greenock

  • Manchester ‘a global symbol of courage, defiance and unity’ following terrorist atrocity, says Gordon Brown during speech
  • As General Election campaigning restarts, he warns Conservative plans would leave more than 20million Briton hit with £1,000-a-year fall in household incomes by 2020
  • Tory Britain a ‘stagnation nation’ as wages lag behind prices and benefit and tax credit cuts bite, says former PM
  • Brown identifies families £1,000, £2,000 or £4,000 worse off by 2020
  • Only top third will see living standards rise. When Tories say they are ‘about the many and not the few’, they mean hurting the many and helping the few
  • North England, Scotland and Wales to suffer biggest hits with one quarter of population officially living in poverty – 5 million of them children

 

Gordon Brown today said that Manchester has become ‘a global symbol of courage, defiance and unity’ following Monday’s terrorist atrocity which killed 22 people.

During a speech in Greenock, Inverclyde, the former Prime Minister said:

“Today and in the days and weeks ahead we will shed tears at the loss of so many children and young people.

“Too many lives have been taken but I say: They cannot take our unity, our solidarity, our support for each other.

“Hearts have been broken but our resolve remains unbreakable.

“Lives have been destroyed but our spirit is indestructible.

“They may think we are vulnerable but our strength of shared purpose makes us invulnerable.

“In the hours and days following the attack Manchester has become a worldwide symbol of courage, defiance and unity.

“To those who are doubters and who believe that terrorism will make us weak through fear, divide our communities and shatter our spirit…let them go to Manchester.”

As campaigning restarted, Mr Brown also unveiled astonishing evidence showing that by 2020 more than 20million Britons will see a £20-a-week fall in living standards.

Almost 45 per cent of the British population – 23million people – will be poorer, and on average their households £1,000-a-year worse off, by the start of the next decade, according to the alarming new figures.

And he warned that the Tories, if triumphant on June 8, will continue hurting families completing  a ‘decade of decline’ with no end in sight to their slashing of the value of tax credits and child benefits.

Officially, the cuts and a raft of other shameful Tory policies are set to leave 15.7million British people – one quarter of the entire population – living in poverty by the end of the next parliament, according to the IFS.

Five million of them will be children, the former Prime Minister said in his speech today.

As hardship bites and a rise in family income comes to a juddering halt, grim new projections by the Resolution Foundation forecast the poorest third of working-age households, covering around 18 million adults and children, will see their average incomes fall by 10 per cent over the next few years.

And the Conservatives, according to the former Prime Minister, are not being honest about the fall in incomes.

During a speech in support of Labour candidate for Inverclyde, Martin McCluskey, at Greenock’s Beacon Arts Centre, Mr Brown said:

“In every election the central economic issue is: What  is going to happen to living standards?

“Between now and 2020/2021, 45 per cent  of the population – 23million people – will take a financial hit and on average their households will be £1,000 a year or £20 a week worse off

“Why? Because wages will be rising more slowly than prices – especially for nurses, teachers, carers and others among five million public sector workers, who will see only a one per cent rise in wages while prices rise much faster.

“Areas facing job losses such as Wales, the North and  Scotland will feel it even more acutely.

“We are a nation where the Tories are creating living standards stagnation.

“The value of children’s benefits and tax credits are now falling even faster than predicted  as inflation bites even harder than previously thought due to the unexpectedly fast pace at which prices are rising.”

There is little escape from hardship for middle and lower income families according to the Resolution Foundation study.

Statistics show:

  • A couple with two children and a full-time single earner on National Minimum Wage with a household income of £21,000 will be £1,000 worse off by 2020.
  • A single earner with one child working part-time with a household income of £14,400 will be almost £2,000 (£1,900) worse of
  • A working couple, one full time, one part time with three children and a household income of £32,100 – will be £3,000 worse off

 

Mr Brown added:

“The Tories talk about uniting the nation but rising poverty and worsening inequality will leave us more economically polarised and socially divided under Theresa May than at any time in living memory.

“The claim that her government is about helping mainstream Britain is undermined by the stark future of declining living standards ahead for the majority of people.

“The mainstream is being marginalised as the majority see their living standards fail to rise, or for millions, fall significantly.  

“Conservatives talk about the many and the few but they are actually harming the many while helping the few.

“That’s why it’s essential to elect Labour MPs who get up in the morning to fight for social justice and will be voices for the mainstream – the middle and lower income Britain that is being hardest hit.”

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Scottish Labour

Labour pledges more funding to grassroots football on FA Cup final day

Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, will visit Hackney Marshes football pitches today to highlight Labour’s manifesto commitment to ensure 5 per cent of the Premier League’s domestic and international television rights’ income is diverted to the grassroots game.

The pledge will help the next generation of players and coaches by drastically improving facilities and pitches.

Labour has also committed today to working with train operating companies, broadcasters and clubs to develop a new ‘Flexible Football Ticket’ so that fans experience minimal disruption when games are switched. This will stop fans being left with worthless train tickets and having to fork out again for new tickets when games are re-arranged at short notice.

The visit is taking place on the same day as the FA Cup Final.

The party’s manifesto also commits Labour to:

•           Put fans at the heart of their clubs – by legislating for accredited supporters trusts to be able to appoint and remove at least two club directors and to purchase shares when clubs change hands. We will also review fan participation in sports governance more widely.

•           Fix the broken ticketing market – by enforcing anti-bot legislation and implementing the recommendations of the Waterson review to ensure fair opportunities for fans to buy tickets.

•           Improve access provision for disabled sports fans – by ensuring that rapid improvements are made and by prioritising action to make clubs comply with obligations under the 2010 Equality Act.

•           Ensure that investment and support is given to grassroots women’s football so as many women and girls as possible can benefit from participating in football

Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, will say:

“The FA Cup final marks the greatest day of the football season. Millions of football fans across the country, including myself, are eagerly awaiting kick off this evening at Wembley.

“Despite the game we all love receiving lucrative domestic and international TV deals, the grassroots game has been shamefully starved of funding over recent years.

“Too often, youth football teams cannot find pitches to play on and when they do they are expensive and the facilities are not fit for purpose. All-weather pitches are like gold-dust and coaching badges can cost unaffordable amounts. Under these circumstances, it is no surprise we are not nurturing the talent that we all know exists within the beautiful game.

“To address this lack of funding and lack of facilities, Labour in government will ensure that 5 per cent of domestic and international TV rights money is diverted to the grassroots game. This will ensure the footballing talent of young girls and boys is harnessed, and football is a game for the many, not the few.”

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, Labour’s Shadow Sports Minister, will say:

“Football is our national game – it brings people together from all ages and all walks of life. We have one of the most commercially successful leagues in the world, but all too often pitches and grassroots community facilities are run down and in a state of disrepair.

“Without supporters, amateurs and young players, football would be barren. As broadcast revenues and the popularity of our leagues increase, so should the support that goes back into the grassroots game. We have to make sure we can develop future British playing and coaching talent, in order to make sure our leagues stay competitive for years to come.”

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Labour •

Brown must clarify whether federal UK plan would require referendum

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  • Brown must clarify whether federal UK plan would require referendum

27 May 2017

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Gordon Brown must clarify whether Scottish Labour’s plan for a federal UK would require a referendum before it could be introduced, the Scottish Conservatives have said.

The former prime minister, who is expected to campaign in the General Election today (Sat, May 27) is a driving force behind Scottish Labour’s proposal to loosen the ties between the four nations of the UK.

The Scottish Conservatives are demanding more detail about the plan after Kezia Dugdale, said federalism could be put forward as an option on the ballot paper in a future referendum on independence.

Adam Tomkins MSP, Scottish Conservative constitution spokesman, said:

“To move to a federal UK would mark a historic and monumental constitutional change.

“As a leading proponent of the idea, Gordon Brown has to spell out how it would be achieved.

“Kezia Dugdale has raised the prospect of presenting it as an option in a second referendum on Scottish independence and, as we see Labour cosying up ever closer to the SNP, that is bound to set alarm bells ringing.

“Gordon Brown and Scottish Labour need to come clean about exactly what they are planning.”

  • In a speech to the IPPR think tank last December, Kezia Dugdale said a constitutional convention, based on the long running convention which led to a referendum on the creation of a Scottish Parliament, should be set up to develop plans for a federal UK.
  • In February she said there was a “legitimate case” for including a “federalist solution” on the ballot paper in a second independence referendum.
  • Gordon Brown said in March the proposals would rest on “popular sovereignty,” suggesting a referendum might be required.
  • Also in March, UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he was “absolutely fine” with a second independence referendum. He has previously said he would be prepared to work with the SNP in a future Westminster government.

Scottish Labour have struck deals and entered alliances with the SNP in councils across Scotland since the local authority elections on May 4.

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Scottish Conservatives

Press release: Ramadan statement

A Foreign Office spokesperson said:

We wish all Muslims, in the UK and around the world, ‘Ramadan Kareem’.

We are proud of our strong links with the Muslim world and our global missions will be celebrating with the Muslim communities in which they live and work.

The Foreign Office continues to work for a world that is peaceful, secure and prosperous for all and supports all those who need our help. In particular we remember all those who are kept apart from their families by poverty and conflict, such as those suffering in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Ramadan Kareem.

Further information

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HM Government